


Blacken It

by CGotAnAccount



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, accidental badass shiro, asshole patron sendak, background plance, restaurant AU, waiter keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 15:31:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16663477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CGotAnAccount/pseuds/CGotAnAccount
Summary: Lance streaked into the wrong door of the kitchen alley with Pidge in tow, both sporting fingers on their noses, and Keith knew he was screwed.





	Blacken It

Lance streaked into the wrong door of the kitchen alley with Pidge in tow, both sporting fingers on their noses, and Keith knew he was screwed.

He whipped a look over to Hunk, yanking his own hand up as fast as he could but Hunk had a better view of the door and was looking at him sheepishly, finger in place.

Keith threw his head back with a groan.

“Groper, spitter, or shitty tipper?”

Pidge cringed, edging behind Lance before giving him a wobbly smile. “All three?”

“Sendak.” Keith muttered like a curse. Sendak had been a regular at Altea Diner for the past few months, a customer so ill behaved that they generally took turns on who had to get him. The food would inevitably be wrong, the server would have to deal with flying spittle while he spoke, and the tip was going to be a hotel room key.

Every. Single. Time.

They had tried to get him banned, citing the harassment and leering the servers had to deal with, but their manager wouldn't budge until something inarguably terrible occurred. It was only a matter of time before one of them became the sacrificial lamb.

Lance toed the linoleum and held his hands out in placation. “We told the hosts whoever got him got the next table too though, and he's in a pickup so you're not losing your section.”

Keith just huffed, grabbing a glass and filling it with water but no ice, knowing that it was going to be sent back for being a smudged glass - and he'd walk to the kitchen with it to stand for 2 minutes before bringing the exact same glass back to no complaints.

Somehow Keith seemed to end up with Sendak more often than not.

He plastered on his best customer service face and wandered out to the biggest booth in the restaurant, occupied by just Sendak of course, and plunked the glass down in front of him.

“Good afternoon Mr. Sendak, lovely to see you again.” He was proud that his tone was only a little bit wooden as he snagged his notepad and pen.

“Hello, Kevin.” Sendak gave him a leering once over as expected. “I was hoping it would be you today.” His large hands wrapped around the glass, rubbing his thumb through the condensation with a frown. “I'm going to need another glass.” He flashed Keith a smarmy grin. “This one appears to be... filthy.”

Keith clicked his pen shut, sliding it into his apron and grabbing the glass back.

“Sure thing.” He turned on his heel and marched back into the kitchen where he stood with a stone face as he watched two minutes tick by. Lance snickered into his hand.

“Why don't you just bring out two for him and switch them there?”

Keith gave him a bored look. “Cause then I'd have to bring back two 'filthy' glasses.”

Hunk nodded sagely at his logic, gesturing at Lance with his pilfered fries. “Plus, Sendak just sends it back to watch Keith's ass as he walks back here.”

Keith wrinkled his face in disgust at the thought before snatching a fry and heading back out with the same glass.

He set it down on the table again in front of where Sendak had set up his laptop.

“Fresh glass, sir.” He pulled his pen and notepad back out. “Can I get you started with anything else to drink, or an appetizer?”

Sendak flicked his gaze away from the computer screen to pull the glass towards him, taking a long gulp and he stared at Keith over the rim. Keith returned his gaze placidly.

He put the glass down with an exaggerated sound of satisfaction, smacking his lips loudly and sending spittle flying. “I seem to have a mighty thirst today, but it's nothing that can be quenched with water...”

Keith nodded curtly. “I see. Feel free to make suggestions for the menu online.” He clicked his pen again, impatient. “More time for appetizer then?”

Sendak gave a faux-thoughtful hum, staring unabashedly at Keith's tight t-shirt. “Maybe there is something appetizing here, but it's not on the menu.” He winked and bared his teeth in what was probably supposed to be a seductive smile.

Keith felt his eye twitch as he held his own slightly manic grimace. “I'll give you more time, let me know when you're ready.”

Keith whirled and walked back to the kitchen, ignoring Sendak's whistle as he left.

His so-called friends were all looking very innocent like they had definitely not been watching from the kitchen. He pointed a finger at each of them in turn.

“You fuckers owe me.” He glared, stomping over to the coffee maker to grab a drink for himself. “This is like the fourth time in a row I've ended up with him.”

Lance just shrugged. “Maybe he likes you?”

Keith threw one hand up in exasperation. “We literally just nose-goes'd for it.”

Pidge adjusted her glasses with a shrug. “It's not our fault that you're bad at social pattern games.”

The coffee mug clunked onto the salad window as Keith snatched the milk from the cooler, directing a middle finger her way.

“Next time we're wrestling for it then.”

Hunk shrugged from where he leaned on the expo window.

“Fine by me.”

Lance and Pidge eyed each other warily, before she took a stomp forward at him and Lance jerked back. She cackled as his startled pout, turning to Keith and wiping her glasses on her shirt.

“Same.”

Lance scowled at them, throwing himself down to sit on an overturned glass rack. “Babe that's not fair, I can't wrestle you.” He turned to Hunk and Keith, still pouting, “And see if I take any of your shifts on short notice.”

Keith rolled his eyes, punching him on the shoulder as he walked back out into the dining room. Sendak was still clacking away on his laptop and Keith knew from experience that approaching him too many times early on would only ramp up the creep factor. He skirted the edge of the booths on the far wall before ducking into the bar where Allura was polishing glasses and eyeballing the closed captioning on the Food Network.

Keith leaned against the service well, swiping a piece of pineapple and ignoring her protest.

“Those are for muddling!” She snapped her polishing rag at him as he danced out of her reach with a grin.

“There's nobody here to muddle for.” He smiled back at her sweetly, hand crawling forward to take another.

She swatted at him again with a grumble and a glint in her eye.

“It'll keep on ice till the dinner rush.” She flicked him on the knuckles as he reached over again. “When you do the prep you can eat as much as you want.”

Keith inclined his head at her, “Fair enough.”

The chime above the door had Allura turning and Keith darted out his hand to grab another handful of fruit, shoving it in his mouth like a squirrel before she could stop him.

He regretted it as soon as he turned to the door.

In walked the most handsome man Keith had ever seen, tall and well built with an undercut and a shock of white hair. He immediately choked on his ill gotten gains and began coughing up his lung, trying not to sputter up chunks of chewed berries. It was a good look for sure.

Allura gave him a cool eyebrow before turning back to smile at the newcomer.

“Hello, Shiro!” She reached over the bar to clasp the man's forearm and slap him on the back with her free hand. “I'm glad you finally had time to drop by.”

The man -Shiro apparently- smiled back at her, returning the hug with warmth. “Of course.” He pulled back and rubbed a hand through his undercut, looking around the bar. “It was a little hectic with the move, I'm sorry I couldn't get down here earlier.”

Allura waved off his apology, grabbing a glass and filling it with the seltzer gun before squeezing in a lime and sliding it over. “How are you liking the area so far?”

Shiro shrugged. “I haven't gotten to see much of it, lots of work.”

Allura dropped her elbows to the bar, resting her chin on her palm as she nodded at him sympathetically. “I feel you.” She blew out a sigh upward, rustling the bangs on her forehead. “It seems like I'm here 80 hours a week and sleeping every other free moment.”

Keith found himself nodding along in agreement before the man shot a quizzical look at him and he realized just how creepy it was to be standing in the corner eavesdropping while picking berry seeds from his teeth. He blushed, offering a nod and darting away to the other side of the restaurant. Allura's tinkling laughter followed him over and he thumped his head into the wall with a groan.

It had been way too long since he'd done anything remotely romantic with any human - let alone one that looked like that – and pretty boys always got him flustered. At least he didn't have to try to wait on this one.

He shook his head to clear it, checked his teeth in the chrome doorway next to him, and marched back over to the booth he'd been avoiding.

Sendak was no longer typing, but instead had his hands folded over the menu, eyes narrowed. Shit.

Keith walked up, pen at the ready and tried to play it off before Sendak got heated.

“Have you had enough time to decide on an order?”

He received an arched eyebrow and a sneer for his troubles.

“More than enough. I didn't realize this was an all day affair.”

Keith fought the downward twitch of his mouth as his fingers tightened around the pen.

“Great. What can I get for you?”

Sendak rolled his eyes, “Shouldn't you know by now?” He tapped one meaty finger on the menu. “The steak, Pittsburgh. As usual.”

Keith sighed internally, resigning himself to the food going back at least twice.

“That's charred on the outside, raw on the inside, correct?” He ignored Sendaks's eye roll as the man nodded. “And what would you like for your side?”

“The broccoli. Well done.”

Keith nodded, fighting the wince. The broccoli always ended up taking longer than the steak to get it to the disgustingly mushy consistency that Sendak liked, which meant the steak would be overcooked by the time it came off – especially with Hunk on a floor shift and not on grill today.

“It'll be right out.” Keith turned to go but was stopped by a hand catching his wrist. He fought the urge to snarl and yank his arm away. “Did you need something else.” His smile was slipping.

Sendak leered up at him from the booth, rattling his straw in the empty glass. “I'm extra thirsty today.”

Keith couldn't help the way his lips pressed into a thin line as he gently extracted his wrist. “Noted.”

He stalked back into the alley to his friends' wide eyed stares as he grabbed a pitcher of water and slammed it down next to the computer. He tapped in Sendaks order, noting the special instructions three different times, and hoped that Rolo would get the message to whatever brain cells he hadn't smoked through yet. Hunk winced as it popped up on the expo screen and wandered around behind the line to start the broccoli microwaving, just in case.

“Thanks man.” Keith muttered as he brought the water pitcher to the bar.

He snagged one of Allura's water guns by the service well and surreptitiously watched her interact with her friend down by the other end. On second non-choking look the man was still breathtaking. He was showing off his advanced prosthetic to Allura, who was an engineering major when she wasn't bartending, and Keith marveled at the way the finger joints appeared to move seamlessly. His easy smile had Keith smiling at them himself, totally unaware of the overfilling pitcher until it splashed over onto his shoes, making him startle with a curse.

He turned the gun off and dropped the pitcher onto the counter as he grabbed some paper towels in the hopes that he could blot the top of the canvas before it soaked through. He'd do practically anything to avoid wet shoes for an entire shift and the smell that would follow for weeks. Allura appeared in front of him with a dry bar rag and a raised eyebrow. Keith shrugged back at her, cheeks tinting pink as she got a knowing look on her face.

“Oh, Shiro.” She turned, snagging Keith's arm with one hand and dragging him down the bar. “This is my friend Keith.” She gave Keith a small shove forward into the bar top, ignoring his wheeze of protest. “He's single.”

Keith hunched his shoulders and gave a small wave, clearly wanting to die. Shiro just laughed and offered his hand over the counter.

“Takashi Shirogane, but call me Shiro.” Keith grabbed his hand and pumped, flush spreading to his ears as his lizard brain registered how big Shiro's fingers were.

“Uh – Keith.” He mumbled intelligently, instantly regretting not bothering to shower before the morning shift. He let go of Shiro's hand, grimacing at how sweaty his own was, and jerked a thumb back to the other side. “I gotta.... uh, table.”

Allura tipped her head at him, stretching onto her tip-toes before wrinkling her nose when she caught sight of Sendak.

“You got him again?”

Keith scowled at her and pointed to the kitchen.

“They set me up.”

Shiro cocked his head curiously. “Problem patron?”

Allura and Keith both groaned.

“You could say that.” Keith muttered, grabbing the water pitcher again. “I wasn't getting anything anyway, but hopefully he won't bother with the hotel key now.”

He heard Allura quietly gossiping with Shiro about the Sendak situation as he rounded the corner and caught Sendak's evil eye. The man was not pleased.

“Too busy flirting to get my refill?” His cold tone had Keith's face slipping farther into a neutral mask.

“Just answering some menu questions.” He poured carefully into the glass, not taking his eyes off it as Sendak huffed in annoyance.

“Of course.” He grabbed the glass while Keith was still pouring, snarling at him when the stream splashed onto the table. “Clumsy idiot!”

Keith's hand clenched around the pitcher until it squeaked, quickly yanking it back up and snagging the emergency napkins from inside his apron to dab at the tablecloth. Sendak grabbed his wrist again, eyeing him hungrily.

“You spilled some on my lap too.” Keith couldn't help his look as he recoiled, jerking his hand out of the tight grip and throwing a stack of napkins on the table.

His voice was tight with fury as he spoke, “I'll go check on your food.”

Sendak's smug smirk had Keith's blood boiling as he stormed back to the kitchen and slammed the pitcher onto the prep line.

He braced himself over the expo window, furious as he snapped a look over to his friends.

“If he touches me again I'm going to get fired.”

Lance cocked his head. “Why would you get fired for him touching you?”

Pidge flicked his ear. “Because Keith's going to go postal on him.”

Keith nodded at her, eye twitching. He leaned over the line, calling into the back where Rolo was nowhere to be found.

“Hey, how long on that steak?”

Rolo pulled the back door open from where it had been propped, coughing and waving away a cloud of pungent smoke.

“What steak?”

Keith growled and threw his hands up, pointing at the now red ticket on the screen.

“That fucking steak.” He slapped the hand back down onto the expo window. “The fucking steak that should've been up two minutes ago.” Keith could feel his blood pressure spiking.

Hunk came up behind him and rubbed a calming hand over his back.

“At least the broccoli will have cooked forever?” Keith's fingers rumpled the aluminum surface slightly where his fingers twitched. “Oookay, or not.” Hunk back away, giving him one last pat and scurrying out to his own table.

Rolo shrugged at him, eyes bloodshot. “Sorry, Dude.” He slapped the steak on the grill and threw a weight on it. “Should just be a minute.”

Keith sucked in a deep breath through his teeth and nodded before blowing it out and stalking back to the bar.

Allura gave him a concerned look and held out a little plate of fruit she had made.

“I saw that.”

“I'm gonna kill myself.” Keith growled, slumping against the glass racks and taking the consolation fruit.

Shiro looked between the two of them nervously before gesturing back toward the other half of the restaurant.

“Are people... allowed to touch you guys?”

Allura made an 'eeeh' noise as she shrugged. “Until they do something unquestionably vile our hands are really tied.”

Keith snorted bitterly, shoving another pineapple chunk in his mouth. “They'd rather have abused staff than a bad yelp review.”

Allura's mouth twisted as she nodded in agreement.

“Well.” Shiro pushed his straw around with furrowed brows. “That's horrible.”

“That's food service.” She offered, wiping down a glass with a resigned look.

Hunk popped his head out of the kitchen. “Food's up.”

Keith hauled himself off the rack, handing the plate back to Allura with a nod of thanks before trudging into the alley.

Hunk was wringing his hands over the plate as he looked at Keith. “It's definitely exactly to spec. I watched Rolo make it. He can't send it back for a good reason.”

Keith just rolled his eyes. “Like that's ever stopped him.”

He snagged the plate and forced his face into less of a grimace as he approached the booth where his favorite person was checking his phone with a scowl. He looked up at Keith's approaching footsteps.

“Finally” He snarled, tossing his phone onto the table carelessly. “It's been easily half an hour.”

Keith sucked in a breath through his teeth. It had been about 14 minutes since Sendak walked in.

“Sorry for the wait, sir.” He grit out, depositing the plate and stepping back from the table. “Can I get you anything else?”

Sendak scowled up at him. “A waiter with a better attitude.”

Keith tipped his head at him, thin lipped. “Noted.” He turned to leave before a curse and a smash from behind him stopped his retreat. Tensing, he turned back around.

“You call this fucking steak?” Sendak had smashed the plate on the floor, scattering the contents with the porcelain shards that skittered over the tops of Keith's non-slips. The steak in question had been cut into directly on a marbled piece of fat. “This is a fucking disgrace.”

Keith's clenched fists shook at his sides as he stared at the shards of plate around him, knowing he'd have to clean it up.

“Are you fucking deaf?” Sendak stood from the booth and stepped toward him. “Get me a fucking steak.”

Keith sucked in a deep breath, counting to ten and blowing it out before he turned to go back to the kitchen.

“Don't you walk away from me-” A hand clawed into his shoulder and he tensed, turning in time to see another hand flying his way. He closed his eyes, at least this would count as a reason to ban Sendak permanently, and it would only cost him a black eye.

The hit never landed.

Keith cracked an eye open at the wounded noise that hadn't come from him.

Allura's friend was standing between them, Sendak's fist clenched in one hand and the hand that had been on Keith's shoulder was twisted down and sideways in an iron grip.

“I don't think you want to do that.” Shiro's voice was low and threatening, practically a growl that had Sendak cringing back.

“Mind your business!” Sendak spat, failing to wrench his arm back. “This little bitch owes me.”

Keith took a step away from them, glaring as much as he dared. “I don't owe you anything.”

Pidge stepped out of the alley, phone in hand. “And we've got that all on camera.” She gave Sendak a vicious grin. “It'd be in your best interest to leave voluntarily before we have you charged with assault.”

He snarled at her and spat on the floor before yanking his arms out of Shiro's slackening grip.

“I'll have all of your jobs for this.” Sendak leaned forward toward Keith, leering. “You should've taken the key when it was offered.” He licked his lips, looking him up and down. “Now I'll just wait until you're walking the streets and desperate.”

Shiro stiffened next to him, making to step in before Ketih grabbed his arm, shaking his head.

“Come on. It's not worth it.” He turned to Sendak, dismissive. “Get out of here. Don't come back.”

Sendak gave a last sneer before grabbing his things and stalking out of the restaurant. The second the door slammed shut Keith blew out a shaky breath and slid into the closest chair.

“Dude, are you alright?” Lance slid up behind him, wrapping an arm around Pidge's waist. “I thought he was gonna nail you.”

Keith laughed dryly. “You and me both.” He looked up to where Shiro was still glaring at the door and reached out to touch his wrist. “Hey, thanks man.”

Shiro startled and looked down at him, rubbing the back of his neck as he flushed.

“Oh. Yeah, no problem.” His hands were a little shaky as he dropped into the chair next to Keith. “I don't normal do -ah... confrontation.” He shot Keith a slightly manic smile as his trembling became more noticeable.

Keith patted his hands with a smile. “Coulda fooled me.”

Lance nodded enthusiastically behind him. “Yeah man, that was super cool!” He made a show of flexing, before making a few karate moves. “You caught his hand out of mid air!” He stopped, cocking his head at Shiro's ashy face. “So are you like, a cop or something? Shiro the Hero?”

Shiro shook his head, “Aeronautical Engineer.” His eyes darted back over to the bar where Allura was on the phone talking heatedly to what sounded like the manager. “I don't suppose you have any water? Or a paper bag?” He was going a bit chalky.

Hunk scrambled to grab a glass of water while Keith scooted his chair over to sling an arm around Shiro's shoulders.  
“Hey, we're both okay, yeah?” He rubbed his thumb into Shiro's shoulder blade and shot a panicky look over his head to Pidge and Lance, neither of whom were any particular help. “You really saved my skin there.”

Shiro gave him a wobbly smile. “Well you're too pretty for a black eye.” Keith's eyes bugged out as Shiro instantly when from ashen to bright red, babbling frantically. “I mean- uh. What I meant was...” His eyes darted frantically to Allura, still occupied on the phone. “You, uh- already have purple eyes?”

Lance snorted and opened his mouth before Pidge elbowed his ribs hard and dragged him yelping to the kitchen. Hunk looked like he was going to faint from secondhand embarrassment as he placed the glass of water down and backed away.

Shiro grabbed the glass and drained it in one go before staring studiously off at the far wall, still furiously red. He cleared his throat and glanced over at Keith's wide-eyed stare, words dying on his lips as he hunched over again.

“I guess I'm just as bad on the harassment scale, eh?” He offered with a weak laugh as he attempting to cringe into a black hole.

Keith snapped out of his disbelief, frantically shaking his head as he grabbed Shiro's hand.

“Absolutely not.” He yanked a marker from his apron, biting the cap off and hastily scrawling his phone number onto Shiro's arm. “Let me buy you dinner as a thank you.” He wrote his name beneath it before looking up into Shiro's own shell shocked face and flushing. “Er, that is... if you want.” He dipped a napkin in water and was poised to scrub the marker off his arm.

“No!” Shiro shot his other hand out, laying on Keith's. “That'd be great!”

“Really?” Keith's eyebrows were up in his hairline, he hadn't expected that to work.

“Of course!” Shiro sputtered, patting his hand. He looked around them at the smashed plates and strewn food, Keith's friend's poking their faces out of the kitchen nosily, and Allura still talking heatedly into the phone. “But ah, maybe not here?”

Keith threw his head back laughing, pulling Shiro up to stand with him and clasping his hand.

“Definitely not.” He gave the prosthetic a tap where he had written on it before turning to sashay into the kitchen, calling over his shoulder with a wink. “I get off at 4, text me.”

Shiro nodded dumbly at Keith's retreating form, staring at the marker on his arm with a silly smile as he kicked his toe into a pile of mushy broccoli.

“Huh... Shiro the Hero.”

 

 


End file.
